You always hurt the one you love
by MylovelyDamon
Summary: The aftermath of 3x14 "Dangerous Liaisons". Elena goes to see Damon the morning after the ball, but how will they get past everything & move on when she finds out about Damon's little indiscretion? Damon's POV. May develop into a multi-chapter fic in the future...
1. Prologue

**A/N:** _Well, it was inevitable ;) After waiting fruitlessly for the (otherwise brilliant) writers to come up with a good way to reconcile that important moment in Delena history, it was time to push up my sleeves and get creative :) _

_I don't know about you, but I'm sure I could hear/feel the collective outcry of thousands of enraged Delena fans all over the world when this episode aired. Frustrations were running high and I, too, was flabbergasted, wondering how our favorite heroine could have gotten it **so** wrong. As a die-hard Damon sympathizer, the ball scene and Elena's belittling comment to Stefan afterwards definitely rubbed me the wrong way, and I felt he deserved a lot more from her than just another annoyingly meek brush-off over the phone. On the show, she tends to get away with so much lately where Damon is concerned that it felt nice to force her character to open up a bit and make her face up to the importance of their friendship - even if she isn't ready yet to examine it further._

_So, after long hours of replaying that scene in my head and hacking away at my laptop, I came up with this burning sequel to their confrontation. I wish it could have happened to some degree on the show, but things are bound to heat up soon anyway now that Elena's in transition and waiting for the right time to re-awaken...let's just hope a certain someone will always be around to keep things interesting for her! ;)_

_I would really LOVE it if you could spare a few seconds to leave me your thoughts after you've read it. What did you think of Episode 3x14? Do you think the show made the right decision in leading the characters down that path?_

_DISCLAIMER: TVD is the property of L. J. Smith & the show runners at the CW. Luckily, thanks to those amazing individuals, they're ours now too! ;)_

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PROLOGUE

Damon Salvatore took a swift peek at himself in the hallway mirror, satisfied with the way his naked chest gleamed in the morning sunlight that was filtering in through the eastern windows. As he crossed the threshold into the parlor, he found that it was already flooded with light. He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes briefly to allow himself a moment of rare introspection.

Most of the time he didn't pay much attention to the luxurious sights surrounding him, preferring the more minimalistic style of his own bedroom to the lavish and opulent displays of the grand mansions of the 19th century; this house, which had once been full of memories of the man who had hated him, certainly was no exception. But as he looked about the room, he couldn't help but think back on slightly happier days too. Those moments when he thought that the world was alive with mystery and every day held some secret promise. He remembered that this was also where his mother had rocked him to sleep on her lap or read to him when he couldn't fall back asleep after having nightmares about deep wells and fierce-looking monsters. He thoughts back to when he and Stefan used to play pranks on the servants and afterwards hid behind those same heavy damask curtains that hung in front of the windows opposite him.

He felt himself smile at these recollections against his will, but when his thoughts came to rest too long on the younger Salvatore, his expression changed and his smile flickered and went out. Thinking about what his brother might be up to (or rather who he spent his time with) was never a good idea, and right now he desperately needed to think about anything but Stefan and as the petite brunette that seemed to follow him wherever he went.

He shook his head as if attempting to physically dislodge the unpleasant memories he had stirred up and let his gaze drift further across the room. Even though pretty much everything in his life sucked beyond the telling of it right now, he couldn't help but appreciate the simple taste and beauty of the room in which he stood, which in itself was an enduring testament to his mother's memory. He knew that their father had indulged her wishes and let her have free reign in how she furnished the house, something Damon appreciated to this day. Who knows what a dismal place this would have been without his mother's good taste and careful hand in arranging everything to her liking. While he thought about this, the bright shafts of gold slowly crept up the dark-panelled walls and made the ornately framed paintings glow brightly as if lit from within.

As his eyes traced the soft glow illuminating every piece of antique furniture that had once belonged to his ancestors, he thought about how different his life might have been had his mother been alive long enough to see him grow up. The memory of her gentle arms and tone of voice still haunted him sometimes, but he knew it was no good to dwell on the past. "_What's done is done and nothing will bring her back. You'd better get used to that if you want to make it in this world". _That was what his father used to say to him whenever he'd found him crying silently in the back garden or in the attic, Stefan being too young to remember much of it or to bear the hatred of their father after he had lost his wife.

He effectively put a stop to his strange musings when he reached the antique sideboard, which was decked out in its usual array of crystal tumblers and left-over bottles of vintage. Thinking drily of how convenient it was that they didn't employ a cleaning lady who cleared all this stuff away from time to time, he reached for a glass and was just about to pop the cork from the bottle, when his movements were arrested by a single sound coming from somewhere to his left.

Damon froze on the spot, remainig motionless as he probed the air carefully with his senses. This time there was no mistaking either the sound of footfalls nor the scent coming from the other side of the front door. _Damn_. He had felt her more than he even heard her.

The peaceful serenity of the moment evaporated as a shiver of apprehension spiked through his body. Without turning around, he dropped his hand that had been about to reach for the scotch and let it ball into a fist at his side, his fingernails digging painfully into his palm.

Muttering a soft string of imprecations under his breath, he let his eyes finally swivel towards to the door. Even with the solid wood and the short distance between them, he could feel her heart beating out a strong and steady _du-dum du-dum_ to him as she made her way up the driveway, pulling up short when she reached the front door to reach for the bell pull. The scent of her warm body used to drive him crazy whenever she came near him, but now all he felt was an angry and bitter hole where once had been a seat of pure electricity and fireworks.

He had expected her to come calling soon enough after the uncomfortable truths that had been spoken between them at the ball, but he still had no idea what to say to her, much less what she would expect him to say. The truth was that he had been fooling himself into thinking that Elena actually returned a small measure of the love that he felt for her, a love which had steadily grown in intensity despite her feelings for his brother. Shaking his head at himself, he reflected back over the past few weeks, trying to see what he had missed...

It was mostly little things, like the occasional melancholy mood that would settle over her or the fact that she rarely ever smiled anymore. He had just assumed that that was a given, knowing intimately what it was like to have one's still-beating heart ripped out and crushed into little pieces by the one you loved.

He had had a hard time forgiving his brother for what he'd done to Elena, but more than that he was furious to be stuck in the worst possible situation he had ever been in, with his brother off God knows where. It was frustrating beyond belief to be this close to her and not have her - never touch her, kiss her, or hold her in his arms like he had wanted to do a million times over.

He kept telling himself after a while that she just needed time to get over Stefan, that things would start to get better once she could accept the inevitable truth that he was not coming back. If nothing else, his own dismal experiences in matters of the heart had taught him that one could move on from anything, no matter how devastating and crushing the loss one may suffer. Hell, hadn't he just spent the last 146 years of his life waiting for a woman who could never love him back? As much of a waste as that was, he had eventually gotten over it, so he assumed that Elena would too.

The realization that he had been mistaken _again_ had hit him with the force of a wrecking ball, and it was all he could do to keep from falling apart inside when Elena delivered the final blow last night.

Twice it had happened to him now. Elena didn't love him, just as surely as Katherine had never loved him. She cared about him for sure, but he was beginning to suspect that her feelings were more akin to a sister's affection for her wayward elder brother. That would at least explain why she felt so comfortable spending so much time with him.

Damon's heart gave a painful throb while he worked hard to battle down the sudden rush of despair that was welling up inside him. Closing his eyes, he tried to chase away the mental image of Elena and his brother, willing himself to picture something hopeful instead.

It didn't work.

He sighed. It always had to come down to _him_, didn't it? No matter how hard he tried, he could never win against Saint Stefan - not with his father or the women in his life.

Stefan, the martyr, who had sacrificed himself to save Damon from certain death not six months ago, had left Mystic Falls for good - that is until he had unexpectedly turned up at the boarding house to take them all on the emotional rollercoaster ride of their lives.

When Elena had received an invitation to the ball the Original family was throwing in their honor, he had no choice but to accompany her, with Stefan agreeing to come too - strictly for safeguarding purposes, as he called it. _Safeguarding, my ass_, Damon thought derisively. Not too long ago, Stefan had been the one who had cheerfully opted to go on a killing spree up and down the East Coast, leaving him and Elena completely out in the cold to pick up the pieces he had left behind.

Damon had considered it a personal injustice to be left out of the game, an offense which still smarted and rankled inside of him. At the time he didn't mind the morality of Stefan's actions so much as his conscious decision to leave town with Klaus instead of with _him. _And on top of that, he had been stuck in Mystic Falls looking after a human who could never love him back since she was, and would forever be, hung up on his baby brother. As much as he loved Elena, he could not overlook the fact that his brother had royally screwed him over.

Damon knew that Stefan always had a certain flair for melodrama, but his latest martyr tear really pushed the definition of insufferable. He knew that if Stefan had only been able to learn how to handle his blood lust, there would have been no need for things to spin so stupidly out of control. Only last year, he had told Elena that there was no telling what his brother might do for human blood. Since then, things had definitely taken a turn for the worse, with Stefan struggling so obsessively to keep his vampiric instincts in check and fighting so hard against what the monster inside of him demanded, that he didn't stand a chance when it finally won out.

After he left, Damon had felt so angry at him that he hadn't been able to think straight at times. Only long nights of drinking, coupled with intermittent days of Elena-protecting, had been able to lessen the rage and bitter betrayal he felt towards his brother.

But there were definitely times –when he was very drunk and pissed off at the whole world for leaving him stuck in this mess - when he toyed with the idea of just getting the hell out of Mystic Falls and never coming back. He pictured going somewhere where he could live like before, without the burden of a conscience and pesky emotions weighing him down. Let Elena and her merry band of friends deal with all the crazy that befell them on a regular basis, his brother and all the Originals _be damned_.

But then he remembered the promise he'd made her the night he had almost lost her to Klaus, and he knew he would never be able to leave her again, with or without promise.

And it was a good thing he did. With Stefan having gone off the rails and giving up his humanity, abandoning not only him and the girl he professed to love more than anything in the world, there was no one besides him to watch out for her any more.

Although he'd had many reasons to be mad at his brother, Damon had lived up to his promise as best he could, switching into the role of the" white knight" easily enough now that Stefan had been no longer around to do it himself. Truth was that part of him had always been so used to protecting Elena from the beginning that it felt natural to do it on his own - most importantly, he felt better now that he had a purpose again, something that had been missing from his life for a long time.

In hindsight, he cursed himself for being stupid enough to underestimate Elena's continuing devotion to his brother, when it should have been obvious that she was not the type to switch from one guy to the other. Still, with Stefan gone he couldn't overlook the fact that something _had_ shifted between them and that she had come to depend on him more with each day that his brother was missing in action. Surely, even she couldn't deny the slowly growing intimacy of their friendship even if it inititally sprang from her shock of losing Stefan?

As for himself, Damon loved every moment that he spent with her. He had been so used to keeping his guard up in the past - snubbing anyone who ventured to get closer to him, - that he had forgotten how nice it felt just to be with a woman and enjoy her company. He knew he had kept people at bay all his life, and he was sick of it. When he had met Elena, he'd hoped that that part of his life could finally be over.

Obviously, believing that had been his first big mistake.

The second came late last night when he wound up as collateral damage in one of Stefan and Elena's plans to get him off their back. Although he had only been briefly incapacitated by their attack – both he and Stefan wore magical eternity rings which granted them immortality and enabled them to walk in the sun without bursting into flames,- he didn't appreciate being lied to and having his neck broken by people he trusted most all in the same night.

Inwardly he knew that he was the last person to complain about the abuse he took at his brother's hands, having done the same thing to others dozens of times, but the under-handedness of their collusion still stung. Damon couldn't believe the aggressiveness with which Elena had followed through on her plan, how far she had actually been willing to go to get what she wanted. It had reminded him disturbingly of Katherine's manipulations.

When he had confronted Elena about it afterwards, she didn't seem particularly abashed or remorseful at all. It had been eerie, looking at her in her stunning dress and coiffed hair - which made her look so much like Katherine - that he had felt an uneasy jolt in his stomach. Her eyes, which generally showed so much compassion and understanding, had held none of their usual warmth, and he had a hard time believing that this was actually the same woman who had pushed herself into his heart not so long ago and convinced him to be a better man.

He would never know how she'd done it, but he found himself changing in more ways than he had cared to and which weren't under his control. He just remembered feeling a sense admiration and respect for who she was very early on in their relationship, and from then it kind of grew on its own. She had stood by him when no one else would have given him a second chance. Her loyalty and steadfastness mirrored his own in many ways, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of connection to her because of that… it was something that they alone shared between them and could not be tainted by the image of Katherine.

It was only when he had met Elena and become a part of her life that he realized what a fool he'd been; Katherine appeared to be no more than a pale ghost when compared to Elena's genuine radiance. Even though she may have expressed a certain affection for Stefan, it was clear from her habit of manipulating every poor soul around her that she wasn't capable of love. Despite being the spitting image of Elena, Damon was constantly reminded of how different the two women were from each other: Whereas Elena's nature was warm and genuine, Katherine's was shallow and self-centered.

But he wasn't stupid. He knew that Elena followed her own agendas if she was convinced it was the right thing to do. But never in his wildest dreams would he have believed Elena capable of the kind of ruthlessness that Katherine had perfected to an art form centuries ago.

When he couldn't hold his anger in any longer at the ball and accidentally let slip that he was mad at her because he loved her, he could have well and truly ripped his tongue out.

_That_ was obviously not the moment to declare himself, not when she was still looking at him with those disturbingly empty eyes that did not seem to belong to her at all.

Apparently Elena had thought so too, because it wasn't even three seconds (time didn't really register with him), before he heard her utter, _"Maybe that's the problem."_

It must have taken him about five confused seconds to make sense of her words before his brain started working again, and he ground out his next words.

_"No I got it, Elena. I care too much. I'm a liability... How ironic is that?"_

There was nothing more to say. The bomb had been dropped and there was nothing she could do to take it back again. He just wished he hadn't been so stupid as to debase himself for a love that would never be reciprocated.

After that, the evening had more or less gone by in a blur. He remembered seeking out that brat Kol and launching him straight off the balcony for a little dramatic showdown-y fun. Elena and Stefan suddenly were there too, but he no longer cared. After all, they were the ones who didn't shut up about his emotions becoming a liability, so if caring was the reason he got his heart trampled on over and over again, then what was the point of giving a crap anymore? Especially if it caused him more heartbreak than any man could reasonably handle during his many lifetimes.

After pulling his little stunt, which he thought was still pretty basic by his standards – and let's face it, that punk had it coming - he had left them gaping at his back as he headed straight for the Grill with a defiant swagger in his step. He had intended to have a drink or two and maybe find a nice little coed to wash down the sour taste of the evening with... It was there that he'd found Rebekah, and, man, was he glad to have run into her…She was pretty, even by vampire standards, and a welcome distraction from all the shit he didn't have the energy or motivation to deal with any more. So he had given himself over with a reckless abandon that reminded him of the old days when he had first come to Mystic Falls, although noticing with a small pang of annoyance that it didn't quite bring him the same satisfaction as before.

Damon could perfectly picture Elena's gorgeous and annoyingly self-righteous face from last night and was glad that his little romp with Rebekah seemed to have temporarily taken the edge off the pain he had felt yesterday. If he was honest with himself, then sleeping with her actually turned out to be the only sane thing he had ever done next to making a fool of himself in front of Elena. And after everything that had happened last night he desperately needed another distraction. _He needed to step off this whipping carousel of pain that had made every single moment of his life a living hell. _

He just wished he'd taken Rebekah up on her offer to drive up to Maryland and spend the night at some first-class hotel, instead of running the risk of bumping into Elena. _What was she even doing here so early?_

After a second's hesitation he decided he didn't care. All he knew was that he didn't want to act like a coward and start avoiding her so that she could find even more reasons to pity him. It was impossible anyway, seeing as how she and his brother were newly glued to the hip these days, and he knew that wherever Stefan went, Elena was usually bound to follow...

Honestly, the sooner he got it over with, the better.

Heaving a deep, melodramatic sigh, Damon made his way over to the door and wrenched it open before he could change his mind about it.

A pair of anxious brown eyes immediately swung up to meet his in a mixture of surprise and relief.

**"What do you want, Elena?"**


	2. Confessions

_"What do you want, Elena?"_

Elena's lips parted in an anxious frown.

"I- I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

Damon leaned against the doorjamb lazily, arms folded languidly over his chest.

"Sorry, got a busy day ahead what with planning to kill an Original family and all. Guess you'll have to stop by another time," he spoke in an offhand way, his lips stretched into that fake smile of his that never quite reached his eyes.

The tiniest crease appeared between Elena's eyebrows and she frowned.

Something really had to be wrong with him when he chose to fall back on his old technique of stone-walling her. Luckily, she had learnt not to give up that easily when it came to Damon.

"Well, I would if I were convinced that you answered your phone. I've been calling you like ten times last night," pressed Elena, aware that her voice carried a note of unspoken reproach in it.

Damon made a thoughtful face at that."Hmm, guess I was a bit distracted by snapping people's necks to further my own dark agenda." He mock-gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth. "_Oh wait-_, hat was you and my backstabbing baby brother!"

The look he gave her afterwards was so full of unreadable human emotions that it scared her.

Nonetheless, she was determined to stand her ground and so she said, "Damon, please, can't we get past this? Look, I know that what Stefan and I did hurt you, but I need you to understand that we had no other choice! You and I both know you would have gotten in the way and ruined everything by trying to save me. We couldn't have that, not when the future of the entire town was at stake!"

"Oh sure, here we go again," Damon snorted derisively, once again turning to brutal honesty to bring the point home, "You don't care about your own life, do you? Not as long as you get to save somebody else's ass and have Saint Stefan there to watch over you…I hate to break it to you, Elena, but there is such a thing as overkill."

He stepped closer, his crystal blue eyes boring into hers, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Tell me, do you have a death wish? Did you expect me to just sit back and watch those bastards take you apart? I know what they're capable o- "

"We had it under control, Damon!" Elena interjected, her voice rising to match his, "But you wouldn't hear any of it, so we had to come up with a way to keep you from ruining everything. And let's face it, you would have done the same thing if it'd been the other way around!"

She gave him a pointed look, letting her voice drop into a lower octave, "It's not like you haven't gleefully snapped Rick's neck whenever you felt like it, and he never did anything to deserve it either!"

Damon just glared at her. Deep down, he knew she was right, but his wounded pride wouldn't allow him to admit it. By the time he opened his mouth to retort, Elena had already hurried on.

"Our plan worked, Damon. We got the information we needed. I'm sorry about the way we had to get it, but, as I said, you left us no choice."

Suddenly Elena crossed her arms in front of her, a challenging look in her eye.

"Why do you even care so much? Isn't this exactly what you did whenever you wanted to prove something or things didn't go your way? Sometimes we have no other choice but to bend the rules when it's about something important. You of all people should know that, Damon."

_No. . _She did not just try to rationalize her way out of this one.

"So what, I break yours, you break mine?" he snapped back angrily. "You know damn well that I never would have done that to you or Stefan! And that's counting all the times I wished him dead!"

He cocked his head to one side, his expression shifting to one of scornful resentment as he regarded her speculatively, his eyes narrowing.

"By the way, when exactly did you and Mr. Ripper get back together? Just in time for you to screw me over, was it?"

She blinked at him in surprise.

"No, that's not—"

"My memory must be a little rusty, Elena, but wasn't he the reason you decided to move on with your life?"

"Yes, but –"

"So I must've missed the memo of you two lovebirds working things out, because last time I checked he was still loose cannon and you were crying on my shoulder, begging me to help you bring him back!"

Elena was getting angry now. "We are not back together, and we didn't plan any of this! You matter to me, Damon, or else I wouldn't be standing here!"

Damon let out a disbelieving snort, "Didn't look like it last night."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them in which the words echoed in the small distance between them, giving Elena plenty of time to work out their full meaning. Suddenly, comprehension flickered in her face and she looked at him, her expression stricken.

"This is about more than what happened between Stefan and me, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

Damon said nothing. Although he managed to keep his face perfectly smooth and impassive, he knew that Elena could see through his masks with almost no effort at all. And although it was no use hiding the truth from her, a tiny voice inside his head – the one that felt wronged and humiliated after last night's debacle, – kept telling him to stand his ground and not give in to her that easily.

His heart still ached at the memory of how her words had beaten into him again and again last night, telling him in no uncertain terms how inconvenient his love for her had been. He sure as hell wasn't going to give her a shot at his heart again with the hole in his chest still feeling so raw after her rejection. She had thrown his love, not to mention months of friendship, back in his face and she deserved a little taste of her own medicine for a change. One dose surely wouldn't be as bad as anything she had ever done to him.

But even as he contemplated this, he could feel his traitorous heart sending out a very different message to every nerve ending in his body when she took a step nearer to him - slowly and hesitantly - until they were separated by the merest of inches. He swallowed instinctively. She was way too close to be having this kind of conversation. And he certainly was much too riled up to be thinking about the brilliancy of her eyelashes or the tiny flecks of amber reflected in her dark-brown eyes.

He could see that Elena was studying him, patiently waiting for him to answer her question. Although he knew he was a fool to do so, he allowed himself one last moment of weakness by letting his eyes roam over every inch of her beautiful face, drinking her in from head to toe. Last night at the ball, she had looked ravishing. Today, if it was possible, she looked even more beautiful in her dark jeans and matching leather jacket, which hinted at the crimson tank top underneath, and long silky hair brushed loosely over her shoulders. He honestly couldn't make up his mind which outfit he found more beguiling on her.

A silent flash of communication seemed to pass between them suddenly, making Damon suppress a shiver that traveled all the way up his spine. It was impossible that she didn't feel it too. Standing this close to her, with her scent wrapping around him like a caress, Damon could feel the last traces of his anger melting away as he found himself trapped by her eyes, their gazes locking. _Damn it_.

He let out a mental sigh of frustration. Why did he have to turn into a proper fool every time she looked at him like that? A few silent seconds ticked by in which neither of them said a word. Then, remembering the reason he felt so muddled in the first place, he gave a noncommittal shrug and deliberately looked away from her, trying in vain to appear as though her proximity didn't affect him at all.

Elena wasn't fooled, though. She saw through his act, like she always had.

She sighed and continued in a softer tone, "Things didn't go exactly the way I planned." She looked up, her eyes searching his face, and continued in a halting voice, "I said some things I'd rather wish I hadn't - I'm sorry,… I know I can't take them back, but I'm here now. Don't you think we should at least talk about it?"

Damon groaned and turned his head back to her in a great show of exaggeration.

"What else is there to say, Elena? I got the message loud and clear last night. Why waste our time on something you and I both know is never going to change."

He shook his head once disgustedly and muttered something under his breath that she almost didn't catch, because he spoke so low.

"I should've seen it coming, that's all."

Elena stared at him, dumbfounded.

"What are you talking about?"

He leveled a dark look at her, his voice cutting and resentful. "The way you're starting to become just like her. At first I thought it was just your looks, but now… I'm not so sure. You've changed, Elena... And I'm not in the mood to be yanked around like some plaything anymore."

Elena's breathing accelerated as she caught his drift. Damon watched the color rising to her face, heating up her beautiful olive skin and making her blush.

"You're wrong. No, I- can't. I couldn't be-"

Her voice caught in her throat and she tried again, more slowly this time, enunciating every syllable.

"I. Am. Not. _Katherine_." Her voice trembled slightly. "I don't know why you're acting like this, but I'm not!"

Damon said nothing, but simply continued to stare at her. He could see how much this accusation upset, even derailed, her, but he didn't see how beating about the bush was going to make things any better.

Elena finally seemed to find her voice again, although her cheeks still burned crimson, "And I didn't use you as my play-thing, - or whatever…" Her voice dropped and she took another step towards him, tilting her head up to look him straight in the eyes.

"Look, I get it, alright? I was there and it kills me that I hurt you. But I can explain. Just hear me out, ok? After that, you can still slam the door in my face if you want and I will never bother you again!

Damon sighed wearily, giving her an annoyed look.

"How 'bout I don't listen to you at all, Elena? Now I realize this may come as a bit of a shock to you, but not everything I do is about you for a change-"

"Damn it, Damon, stop twisting everything around!" Elena actually stomped her foot in frustration, a move which under any other circumstances he would have found adorable.

"This isn't about me, it's about us! I haven't been able to sleep all night after the way I left things with you yesterday, so I'm really not in the mood for games right now. "

At her choice of words, Damon's mood perked up suddenly, and he flashed her a predatory grin.

"Now that you mention it, I do recall not getting much sleep either._ Huh_. Must be the company.."

His voice trailed off suggestively and Elena gave up, clearly thrown for a loop. "What the hell are you talking about, Damon?"

"Actually, Elena, I have a houseguest upstairs," he pointed one finger at the ceiling and one to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet, "and it would be very rude of me to keep her waiting." His grin turned lecherous. "Vampires don't like to be cooped up all day, you know."

Elena looked utterly nonplussed. "What-? Damon, what's going on? Why would you-" Her voice suddenly broke off, eyes going wide. Damon could see the lights going on in her head one by one as the full implication of his words finally hit her. Oh.

With her temper rising, Elena advanced on him, her voice pitched dangerously low. "So that's why you didn't pick up the phone last night? Because you were busy with someone else?" Her voice nearly cracked on the last words, and to her own horror, Elena could feel the sting of tears pricking the back of her eyes. Stupid, stupid…

Angrily, she swiped at them while taking another step towards Damon. To his utter bewilderment, she drew her arms back and started beating her fists against his chest with all the strength she could muster, making an effort to channel her frustration into sheer physical force. It was no use, though. She might as well have pushed against a wall for all the damage she was causing.

Damon just stood there, stunned. His body was as motionless and aggravatingly still as if carved from stone, not to mention clearly impervious to her wimpy display of human strength. He let her land blow after blow on him, barely feeling the impact of them at all. What was going on with her? Was she jealous?

Meanwhile, Elena was still smacking every inch of him she could reach, panting slightly by her efforts,

"While – I – was – at home –beating – myself – up - WORRYING myself sick - over - you were here? WHO IS SHE, DAMON?"

Damon finally caught Elena's flailing fists and pinned them at her sides, clearly surprised by her violent emotional display. She raised her chin defiantly at him, lips trembling, as he stared at her- taking in the tumultuous array of emotions flitting across her face. This thing with Rebekah was affecting her, all right. A tiny part of him thought her reaction was even better than he could have hoped for. Somewhere inside of him, the monster that was his pride was roaring its approval, telling him to rejoice in the fact that for once he had been able to turn the tables on her, to make her feel a sliver of the agony he had felt whenever she and Stephan had been together; but one look at her face now was enough to snuff out that sentiment completely.

His heart clenched painfully as he felt the waves of pain and distress radiating out of her, and he was sorely tempted to pull her into his arms and reassure her that the whole thing had meant nothing to him. But the memory of her harsh rejection was still too vivid in his mind, the sting of her betrayal smarting and slowly burning him from the inside, that he pushed his feelings of sympathy aside. He was the wronged party here. There was no reason why he should feel solicitous towards her. So, instead of offering her words of comfort and reassurance, he did the only thing his wounded pride allowed him to do.

Deflect.

Trying his best not to give away how much her wet eyes actually affected him, he went on as indifferently as possible, "Does it matter? I'm entitled to have some fun around here – a man's got needs, after all. And Rebekah didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with that, either."

"Why are you being like this? Wha-" Elena choked, her eyes grew impossibly rounder as she caught the name. "Wait-, R-ebekah? No, you didn't-"

She searched his face, heart racing, bracing herself for his answer. When he gave no sign of contradicting her, she spun away from him and nearly threw up as a wave of disturbing images battered across her brain. Breathing heavily, she fought to keep her thoughts under control while dozens of different scenarios involving him and the blond vampire flashed through her mind. Damon didn't need to look at her to read the reaction on her face; he could practically taste the frustrated emotions rolling off of her while she stood with her back to him, her delicate frame trembling slightly.

"Elena, I-"

"Don't!"

He closed his mouth again, all his cockiness dried up faster than if she'd slapped him. Slowly, she turned back to face him, fixing him with a bitter, resentful look he knew all too well - it was the same look he had worn since the day he'd found out that Katherine wasn't in the tomb. That was before he had met Elena and believed he could never love anyone again. Seeing that look on her face now just about undid him and it took all his considerable willpower not to rush up to her and wrap her in his arms.

Her expression was still pained when she spoke again, but there was a trace of something else mixed in with the hurt, some unspoken sorrow that made him stop dead in his tracks. Icy fear gripped his heart and he braced himself for her next words.

"How could you, Damon?" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Of all the women you could have picked, you had to go and sleep with her, the woman who tried to kill me just two days ago? You really hate me that much?"

A tear escaped down Elena's cheek and he felt an overwhelming urge to brush it away. Those were the words he had been most afraid of, and gazing at her tear-stained face, Damon had never felt so shabby in his entire life. An irresistible need to reach out and comfort her seized him again, but it was quickly shut down by his reason telling him that she didn't deserve any better after the way she had come down on him last night. He owed her nothing at all.

So instead of acting on instinct and taking her in his arms like he wanted to, he just clenched his teeth together and carefully schooled his expression back to one of perfectly controlled indifference.

If Elena noticed the change in his expression, she didn't show it. She was already taking another step forward, firmly planting her feet as her eyes were leveling dark and reproachful look at his face. He didn't back away, he had a very hard time not to flinch at her proximity.

"How could you sleep with her after what she almost did to me? Did you have a sudden case of amnesia and forget that she tried to kill me for stabbing her in the back? Which was our idea, by the way!"

She threw her hands up, bristling with indignation. "I mean- God knows, you've had your share of psycho ex-girlfriends in the past, Damon, but this is low even for you!"

Damon emitted a low growl at her indirect reference to Katherine, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. The truth was that he was far too impressed with her sudden attitude reversal to feel truly mad about her accusation. Whereas only moments before she had seemed vulnerable and full of pain, she now radiated a strength and determination like nothing he had ever seen from her before. Her beautiful face was filled with a fierceness that could have rivaled any warrior's, and he felt sure that this Elena would not let him get away with anything.

God, he loved her.

Vulnerability and strength were two qualities that he had never satisfactorily been able to reconcile within himself without flipping his emotional switch. His past served as a constant reminder that he didn't have the best track record when it came to keeping his emotions in check. Yet, here she stood, melding them both seamlessly as equal parts fury and hurt shot out of her big brown eyes. He had to give her props for that.

This was why he was so surprised when his hands suddenly came up defensively and he shot her an irritated look. "Hey, I don't deny that she was wrong. But we weren't out painting the town red, we just had a good time, is all. And since when do you care? Since when's it any of your business who I hang out with?"

Elena nearly hissed in frustration, „It is my business when you get all hot and heavy with suicidal psychopaths who are trying to kill me! What's gotten into you, Damon? This isn't you!" Fresh tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she ignored them. "Is this your way of paying me back for what I said last night? Are you really that petty?"

Damon's temper finally snapped. She didn't get to be morally superior here, not after last night.

"Technically, Elena, I AM still a vampire, so I don't really care about hurting anybody's feelings."

He poked an accusing finger into her chest as he stepped even closer, "And who are you to lecture me on what's right or wrong anyway? You string me along for months, showing me with every word and look that you feel something for me, and then one day – BAM – Stefan rides in on his white horse and I wake up with a severed neck! That's what I'm mad about, so don't tell me I'm the villain in this scenario!"

Elena gaped at him, momentarily stunned out of her righteous anger.

"Wait, - that's what you think? That I strung you along just like Katherine did? Is that why you reacted so badly last night.?"

He just glared at her, his chest heaving. Reading confirmation in his eyes, Elena's expression darkened and her voice grew bitter.

"I can't believe that after all we went through together you still don't know me at all. Do you think these last couple of months meant nothing to me... that I'm so cold-hearted that I would seek your company just until Stefan came back? If you really think that, then you don't know me at all."

She gave a little sardonic laugh, which was not unlike Damon's, and spread her arms wide, "Who needs a back-stabbing, conniving vampire when her doppelganger gets the job done all by herself, right?"

He took this in, the hard accusation on his face slowly giving way to indecision and, finally, confusion. When Elena spoke again, it was without a trace of sarcasm but with the same intense fire behind her words.

"You have no idea how I feel, Damon. We shared one kiss and now you act as though you have some special insight into my soul. Well, guess what, you don't! The truth is, I'm terrified when I think about how I might have hurt you. And the reason I couldn't show you that yesterday was because I had to keep it together for the others' sake. What do you think would've happened if something had gone wrong with the plan? Did you ever consider that there was more at stake than what went on with us?"

"I am well aware of what went down yesterday, Elena," Damon said coolly, refusing to let her twist the situation for her own purposes, "I'm not stupid. But the point is that you had Stefan do your dirty work for you while you didn't give a damn about me. You had your chance to tell me how you really felt when I told you I loved you, and you just threw it back in my face. Even if it didn't mean anything to you, it sure as hell meant something to me."

"And, call me crazy, but even in the midst of all the chaos, it still felt right to say it. But you couldn't even stand to hear it, could you, Elena?" he said resentfully, "So don't deny that your rejection wasn't real, because it was - I got it. Just spare me your pity and don't come knocking on my door now just because you're trying to ease your own guilt!"

Elena froze, her head jerking back reflexively as if he'd slapped her.

It took her some time to locate her voice, but when she did it was barely more than a whisper.

"Look, I know you have every right to be mad at me," she said with feeling. "I know that I hurt you and I feel horrible about it. But you're wrong about one thing: I never said that I didn't have feelings for you. It was different before..."

She faltered, swallowing. "Before Stefan left... it's true, I didn't want to give you any reason to hope. I guess I knew even then that you had some kind of feelings for me. But… that was a long time ago and so much has changed since then. And I'm - I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel any more..."

She shook her head in an effort to rid herself of the unbidden images of Stefan floating through her mind, tangling her thoughts into a web of confusion. The time had come to lay all the cards on the table. No more secrets.

"I have always been fair to you, Damon." Elena said, glad to hear a renewed strength in her voice. "I feel really bad about what we did to you, but I knew you wouldn't have worked with us if we'd let you in on our plan. And as for the other thing - when you told me you loved me, did you really think that was the best time to tell me you had feelings for me? You have never really come right out and said it before..." She shook her head. "Of all the moments you could have picked, you chose last night, while we were in the middle of an argument, to say it and I'm what? Expected to fall at your feet in adoration? Maybe you didn't notice, but there was some major stuff going on-"

"We deal with life-and-death stakes all the time, that's not the point," Damon interrupted her flatly, working to keep the frustration out of his voice. "The point is you could have shown some tiny sign that you cared instead of telling me how my love for you was the problem. Anything would've been better than that!"

Inwardly, he could feel his heart breaking all over again. It was just too much. First Katherine, now Elena. His love for them ultimately meant nothing. Both were eternally infatuated with his brother while he never got a chance to prove his love to them. Just like his father chose Stefan over him. Always the favorite son, the favorite boyfriend…

With these thoughts, his pent-up frustration suddenly reached a breaking point. Not caring that it was Elena,, Damon lashed out at her, his words tumbling over one another in a great rush.

"Do you know what it's like to have a knife stuck in your back, because that's exactly what it felt like, Elena! That was Katherine's specialty too. I was wrong about one thing, though. You are not like her. She had her compulsion to trick people into loving her and discard them as soon as she got bored, but you manage that all on your own!"

He watched the impact his words had on her, turning her face ashen - but he no longer cared. She wanted the truth and he was going to give it to her.

"You made me trust you Elena, with everything that I am, and I trusted you to handle that and not bail the first time things didn't go your way. I thought we were friends and I could count on you. Don't friends at least deserve that much?"

Elena's face was filled with apprehension as the truth of his words gradually sunk in. He was right. She was a terrible friend. She let him down when he was finally willing to open up to tell her the truth. Even if she couldn't return his sentiments, he still deserved better than to be punished for saying them. The worst part of it was that she'd been the one doing the punishing.

His words replayed in her head. Don't friends at least deserve that much?

Feeling as if an invisible weight was pressing down on her chest, she reached out and touched his left arm, her lips trembling slightly, "I do trust you, Damon. I trust you with my life." She could hear the urgency in her voice, how desperately she wanted him to believe her. It wasn't until that moment that she realized how truly afraid she'd been of losing him - of losing his trust and friendship.

"I- I know I handled things badly last night, but I want so much to make it all up to you - believe me, I do! All I keep thinking about is what you said and I- I just want to kick myself for messing it up."

Determination suddenly flashed across her features as she put her other hand on his arm, squeezing it gently. He looked slowly from her hands to her face, his expression wary as he waited for her to undo the spell that she had undoubtedly been weaving between them. But she never did.

No more defensiveness or mixed signals, Elena decided. This was it.

"I should have come over straight away and apologized to you after the ball. You're right. You are my best friend and you deserved better than that," she told him seriously.

His expression softened a little - some of the tension leaving his body - but he stayed wary. This sudden mood shift of hers was derailing him, catching him completely by surprise. He wasn't used to being treated like that by her. They had never talked this way to each other before.

"It's just… the reason that I couldn't give you a better answer last night was that I'm still figuring out what it means to have Stefan back in my life," she paused briefly, carefully choosing her next words, "when I feel the way I do about you. I really enjoy being with you, Damon, I do. Very much. But it terrifies me, too, because isn't that exactly what Katherine did to you? Toying with both of you and giving you false hope?"

Damon tried to interrupt her again, but she shook her head.

"- Please, let me finish? Could you imagine what would happen if I did that you, even unintentionally? If I ever caused you pain by the way I acted, I would hate myself because I couldn't stand messing with you like that. And I can't be the one to hurt you or Stefan all over again just because I'm confused about what I want…"

Her voice trembled and she swallowed heavily. This was every bit as hard as she thought it would be. Damon gazed at her, not sure what to think about that. This wasn't exactly breaking news to him. He mentally rolled his eyes when he realized that, even though her intentions may have been good, she still ended up making all the wrong choices. It was tragically ironic.

Meanwhile, Elena's voice had drifted away, her eyes becoming remote as she stared unseeingly into the distance. At length she said, "I... I try so hard not to become the kind of person that would hurt you, but - it seems the more I try, the more I succeed in pushing you away and actually making things worse. I'm- really sorry, Damon. After all we've been through, I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

She looked up at him then, her eyes burning and a watery smile stretching across her lips," Last summer you were always there for me, looking out for me and Jeremy, even after Stefan had left. You didn't have to, but you stayed with us anyway. And I chose to repay you by telling you that I couldn't care less. Please know that, even though we were fighting, some part of me hated me for what I said to you, but it was too late to take it back."

A long silence stretched between them after that. Finally, Damon's eyes met hers, their expression growing softer and slightly more hopeful. "Why did you? I mean -you could have been just honest with me."

Her lips twisted in a rueful smile. "Because I thought that by pushing you away I could somehow make it easier for everyone." She shook her head, as if incredulous about her own dubious logic. "I can see now that all it's done is actually make things worse between us, so you were right. I was stupid. Bring on the jabs and flaming torches, because I've earned it."

She chanced a glance at him after she said that and was relieved when she caught Damon give his lips the tiniest, imperceptible twitch. It was a far cry from the full-out smirk she secretly loved so much, but it was enough to make her heart swell with indescribable relief and hope. Under the circumstances she would take anything she could get.

Sensing an opening where there had been none before, she lost no time in saying what she had come here to say, "You are my best friend, Damon, so please know that I would never intentionally hurt you." She looked him in the eyes, her big chocolate brown eyes all wide and pleading. He gave her a wordless nod to continue, entranced against his better judgment.

"I'm just afraid that one day, no matter what I do, I will end up like Katherine and I will hurt you and Stefan," she told him in a shaky voice.

"What if there's a higher power binding us together and I have no choice but to do the same things she did? What if, by some weird genetic fluke, I'm actually destined to make the same choices she has made? What if I hurt you again? I couldn't stand that!" She squeezed his arms for emphasis, "Don't you see why I have to keep my distance? Why I'd rather risk you hating me than seeing you get hurt in the long run?"

At that Damon suddenly gripped her upper arms and yanked her to him, trapping her securely against his body with no chance for escape. He sensed that Elena was too worked up emotionally to put up much of a resistance and he was still far too intent on getting through to her. In the past he had been so used to her eluding his every advance and putting some distance between them whenever he invaded her personal space that it had become easy to predict her reactions. But now he could tell that things were different. This time when he held her, she didn't try to squirm free of his grasp or instinctively shy away from his nearness. This time he could relish in the tingling heat emanating from her skin and spreading through every nerve in his body. For once he could openly bask in the glow of the vision in front of him without worrying that she would slip from his grasp. He could feel his skin humming, the sensation was almost unbearable. Just when Damon wondered whether it was possible for someone to spontaneously combust from sensory overload, he noticed a subtle difference in the expression of her eyes. They had gone wide with some unreadable emotion as the powerful connection he had always felt burning between them sparked to life. Judging by her accelerated breathing and slightly flushed cheeks, Damon guessed that she was as affected by their proximity as he was.

"I'm sorry, but that's the dumbest thing I ever heard," he spoke with conviction in his voice. "What in the world makes you think I could hate you, Elena? You're almost as bad as Stefan with his annoying martyr complex and look where it got him! Separated from the ones he supposedly cares about and off doing God knows what." He clasped her tighter while his eyes were heating up her skin with the torching look he gave her, "So don't think for one second I'll let you get away with that, thinking you have to martyr yourself for other people's sake! They're not worth it."

Realizing suddenly that his grip must be becoming painful for her, he released her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, breaking contact with her skin only long enough to make sure he wasn't hurting her. Drawing in a deep breath, Damon closed his eyes briefly as he considered his next words. When he finally looked at her, Elena saw his aquamarine eyes shining with unaffected sincerity and admiration.

"You've never been Katherine to me, Elena, and I will never make the mistake of confusing the two of you because there's just no way you could be the same person. You're polar opposites and I'm so glad you are." He said earnestly, feeling that the situation called for mutual honesty. "But I'll admit, last night that when I looked at you, I thought I caught a glimpse of her in you and it scared the hell out of me. But you could never be like her, I'm sure of that now. Not after everything that's happened…"

He gave her an encouraging nod, determined to convince her as much as himself, "And as for being scared, take it from someone who's been around for the last 164 years. Everybody's scared, that's a given whether alive or undead, but the way people manage is, they don't do it alone. I did it for the better part of my life and believe me, it wasn't all it's cracked up to be. But you - you have your friends, your family - not to mention two freakishly hot vampires looking out for you." He gave her his famous eye-wink knowing the effect it always had on her. "If you ask me, it doesn't get much better than that."

When she responded with a tentative smile, he felt emboldened to continue, "You were the one who told me, Elena, that friends don't give up on each other. We are supposed to fight and make difficult decisions together instead of deciding alone what's best for everyone. I didn't come to you last night because I expected a declaration of undying, eternal love from you. I know better than that, and you won't hear me ask for one. I told you as much on the porch that night when I tried to kiss you but you were too distraught over Stefan, remember? Didn't I agree with you then that now was not the right time for us? So what part of that did you mistake for serious commitment?"

He cupped her face between his hands and forced her to look deep into his eyes, causing an involuntary shudder to ripple through her body. "I have never forced you to make a decision, Elena." The muscles in his jaw tightened and Elena could see the storm brewing behind his eyes as he regarded her with utter seriousness, "But let me be clear about something. I will never abandon you like my brother and I'm not going anywhere unless you order me to."

Elena felt like crying at his words. Feeling her own hands shake, she balled them into fists at her side.

"I-I don't want you to go anywhere," she whispered.

Damon stood transfixed, his eyes darting back and forth between hers watching steadily for some sign that would contradict the heavenly words she had just uttered. He was almost too afraid to believe his own ears. Had she really just admitted to having feelings for him, that she didn't want him to leave? His heart hammered against his ribs as he tentatively reached out and pulled her to him. His entire body sagged with relief when he felt her marginally relax against his chest, her hands gingerly clutching at his shoulders. So soft, he thought. How well she fitted into his arms, but then he always knew she would.

Damon burrowed his nose in her hair, inhaling her sweet honey-like scent, before he murmured into her ear, "Neither do I."

A long silence stretched between them in which Damon only concentrated on the feel of her in his arms, on the amazing current of electricity that seemed to flow between them wherever they touched, even as he committed every inch and curve of her body to his memory. After a long while, he pulled back slightly and gazed at her in amazed wonder, tracing his thumb tenderly along her jaw. "Elena, you do know this thing with Rebekah didn't mean anything to me, right? It's just... I thought I'd lost you and I kind of went crazy. I didn't know what to do with myself."

He leaned in and touched his forehead gently to hers while continuing to stroke her cheeks with his fingertips.

"I would take it back in a second if I could."

Elena couldn't move. Her limbs seemed to have melted under his touch and she could feel a delicious warmth slowly spreading through her entire body, heating up parts of herself she didn't know still existed after Stefan had left. As much as she was still hurt by Damon's cavalier attitude about his fling with Rebekah, she could see how serious he was when he said how much he regretted it. She could see it in the soft velvet-like texture of his eyes shining out at her, in the way he held her and looked at her with so much tenderness and awe like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. With Katherine it had been about fascination and lust, she realized, a hollow infatuation compared to the sweet bliss of a mature love which was all for her. Elena felt sure he would move heaven and earth for her if she asked him to. His devotion to her was so obvious, so utterly undeniable, that she was amazed how she'd never seen it before. Another minute gazing into his eyes and Elena thought she might crack under their intensity.

Elena sighed and rested her head against his shoulder before slowly putting her arms around his neck. "I know that, " she said quietly and closed her eyes, allowing herself to lean into him and enjoy his warmth. His scent was intoxicating. A mixture of scotch, expensive cologne and traces of leather mingling with something that was unmistakably Damon. It threatened to overwhelm her other senses and she found herself drawing in deep lungfuls of air to keep her head from spinning. She didn't know how long they stood there, enjoying the comforting intimacy of the moment, just holding and breathing each other in. Damon rubbed comforting circles on her back and felt a small shiver go through him when he heard her let out a contented sigh, "I'm sorry too. Sorry for all the weirdness I put you through. You must have thought I didn't care about you at all."

He wrapped his arms more tightly around her and smiled to himself when she didn't immediately pull away. She may not say it in so many words, but her body and her arms around him communicated plenty of the way she felt about him. He couldn't believe he was actually standing here, with Elena encircled in his arms like he had pictured so many times in his head. In all the time they'd known each other, they had rarely touched or embraced and when they did, it had always been because one of them needed the comfort of the other. But this was different. She didn't hold on to him because she knew he was dying and needed her forgiveness. Her arms didn't clutch at his shoulders the way they did because she felt sorry for him and wanted to offer him solace. This time it happened because both of them wanted it for the same reason – to be close to one another after all the angst-ridden moments and confusion they'd experienced together.

Damon sighed contentedly. They had danced around their feelings long enough until both of them were too exhausted to pretend anymore. Now they could move past all the pretensions and hurt and move on to better things. Start afresh.

Elena sniffed and pulled back slightly to look at him, wiping her sleeve across her cheek.

"So what do we do now?"

Damon considered for a moment. "Well, we could try to avoid each other like we did so well the first time we kissed," he winked, "or we could pretend that last night didn't happen and pick up where we left off..." Carefully searching her face for signs of approval, he let go of her waist and gently reached for her hands, where he continued to place soft, feather-light kisses on the back of her skin. With his eyes still locked onto hers, he breathed against her knuckles, causing goose bumps to erupt all over her body, "I believe you still owe me a dance, Elena." He smiled boyishly at her as he locked her arms around his neck and lightly placed his hands on her waist. She felt a burning tingling where his fingertips touched her skin. "Will you please dance with me?" His voice was husky, pleading, and a nervous smile played across his face.

Elena had flushed at the feel of his lips on her skin, and for a moment, had almost forgotten how to breathe. Why was it that he had such a powerful effect on her all of a sudden? Not so long ago she would have laughed at the idea of Damon Salvatore making her blush or go weak in the knees. Stefan had always successfully kept her immune to his charms, acting as the perfect buffer, so that she hadn't fully appreciated Damon as a man. She knew that Damon knew exactly what kind of effect he had on women and he often used that knowledge to his advantage. Not only was he extremely good-looking and sexy, he was also loyal, charming, and passionate - not to mention incredibly sweet and selfless when it came to the people he loved. But then, he could also turn reckless and unpredictable with his inner demon always hiding just beneath the surface. Demon - Damon? Elena mused.

She could feel his gaze on her, his burning ardor at having her with him at least, but something kept nagging at her in the back of her mind. She suddenly realized what it was.

"I'm sorry, I can't," she whispered and slowly, regretfully, disentangled herself from his embrace, taking a safe step back so that their bodies were no longer touching and his smell could no longer wreak havoc with her senses.

A look of hurt flashed across Damon's face as she pulled away, his arms reaching out automatically to stop her withdrawing farther. "You're going?"

Elena averted her eyes, not wanting to see the sad look in his eyes. Even though her heart broke a little with what she had to say next, she knew it was the only right thing to do. She needed to be honest with him.

"As much as I'd like to pretend that nothing happened between you and Rebekah, I can't, Damon. You say you don't think of her that way, but it still hurts. I can't just forget it never happened."

She looked up at him with tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

With one last look at him and a new-found determination she didn't know she possessed, she made herself turn around and make her way back to her car, leaving him standing in the doorway. Damon clenched his jaw, feeling his whole body go rigid as he stared at her slowly retreating back. Before she could vanish from his sight entirely, Damon called out to her, the fear in his voice palpable as it cut through the crisp morning air between them.

"When will we see each other again?"

Elena stopped. Slowly, she turned around, and as she did, he could see silent tears spilling down her face.

"I don't know. Maybe a couple of days. I need some space to figure things out."

Damon felt like his body was slowly being frozen where he stood, but he didn't dare to move. It was only now that he noticed the misty fog that had been rolling in from the west, creeping silently up the lawn and casting everything in deep murky shadows. If he stretched out his arms, he could feel the wet chill of the air clinging to his fingertips. A couple of days, he swallowed heavily. He sincerely hoped it wouldn't be much longer than that.

"I'll wait for you," Damon spoke softly into the air, not sure whether his words still carried to her over the distance.

She gave no sign that she had heard him, safe for the smallest trembling of her lips which his heightened senses could still make out in the dense gray dome surrounding them.

With one last inscrutable look at his face, Elena turned, and, picking up her pace, headed down the driveway towards her car. All Damon could see was her long brown hair fluttering in a soft breeze before she was swallowed up in the oncoming mist.

**The end **

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this as much as I loved writing it! It felt right to give them an opportunity to vent their feelings to each other while staying true to the characters on the show, but that doesn't mean I have to end it for these two just yet ;) So, what do you think? Is the story worth a sequel? Reviews are comfort food people, always ! ;) _

_Thank you, xoxo - R.E._

_Thank you, xoxo - R.E._


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